August 10, 2010

DRIVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Most management courses taught in college and business school teach us that the best way to motivate people is with external rewards like money – the carrot and stick approach. According to author Daniel H. Pink in DRIVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, this actually can have the exact opposite impact. His new thought provoking book comes off of his great success with his book A Whole New Mind.

In DRIVE, Pink draws on decades of scientific research on human motivation to reveal the secret to high performance and engagement – at work, at school, and at home – is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

Pink explains the surprising mismatch between what business/management does (carrot and stick approach) and what science actually reveals. People are best motivated not by “extrinsic motivation” but rather by “intrinsic motivation,” wherein the performance of the task is its own reward – when work doesn’t feel like work.

Pink breaks down what drives humans into three Motivations:

1.Motivation 1.0 – This is the most basic human need – survival. This motivation is shared by animals as well as humans.

2.Motivation 2.0 – This method of motivation has been employed by companies for many years. This is the method that uses extrinsic motivation, such as using money as a reward for a job well done or using fear of losing a job as a punishment. This type of motivation is not working as it did in the past which leads us to Motivation 3.0.

3.Motivation 3.0 – The author contends that people better respond to intrinsic motivation which means they are motivated by rewards that are largely intangible, such as: enjoying a sense of challenge, feeling satisfied/capable/appreciated, and satisfaction with accomplishments and realizing their potential. Motivation 3.0 possesses three essential elements:

·Autonomy – the desire for people to direct their own lives.

·Mastery – the urge to get better and better at something that matters.

·Purpose – the desire to do what people do in the service of something larger than themselves.

Pink asserts that the old world (Motivation 2.0) motivations have lost their attractiveness; we are transforming away from a “top-down” management style to a result-driven style fed by workers who feel their work is worthwhile.

I would recommend DRIVE to anyone who is in the position of managing or motivating people.